No Groom Like Him

by Jeanie London

  “Disconnecting. So how will this work? Would you mind running through the process with me, so I know what to expect?” So he wouldn’t impede. So he could find out exactly how much alone time they would have together. He imagined intimate dinners. Testing the menus. And the champagne. And in the center of every idea was Lily Susan.

  She folded slender hands together, all business. “We’ll start with the proposal. I’ll work up my ideas tonight and expect you to be available to view them tomorrow.” She eyed him steadily. “You will be available, correct?”

  “I’m at your disposal 24/7.”

  She acted as though she hadn’t caught his innuendo, but then her lips twitched into a smile. “I really can’t emphasize enough how every second will count.”

  “I like a woman who can make every second count.”

  “Max! What is wrong with you? The decision making will start tomorrow, so please be ready.”

  “I’ll be ready…for anything,” he said softly.

  “Oh, please. You are so not funny.” She glared. “Once we come up with some preliminary ideas, I’ll want Jamilyn and Raymond to confirm before I proceed making arrangements.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “Oh, wait.” She leaped out of the chair in a smooth move that drew his attention to the way her tailored blouse and skirt managed to cling to her every curve. “There is a decision we can make today. Let me grab that book.” She glided out of the room on wedge heels with the hem of her skirt swinging around trim ankles.

  Max watched her go, typing a few notes on another file. She wasn’t taking his innuendos and teasing seriously, which was probably a good thing. At least until he figured out how he was going to handle his newfound interest.

  Lily Susan breezed in, toting some sort of display book that was so huge, he was on his feet, taking it from her. He felt as if an electrical current shocked him when their fingers brushed together, a not-so-innocent innocent touch that made him hyperaware of her.

  Still, she didn’t seem to notice him in any special way. But as she jerked away, perhaps a little too fast, he thought maybe he was mistaken.

  Setting the book on the desk, he sank into the chair, warning himself to get a grip. Especially when Lily Susan leaned over him and he got another whiff of her delicate scent.

  “I much prefer to individualize all the correspondence to the event,” she explained while flipping pages. “But there’s no time. Better we take what we can get and not waste a second.”

  Max tried to catch a glimpse of what was inside the book, but got distracted when she tucked a stray lock of whiskey-gold hair behind her ear.

  “What are they?”

  “Save-the-dates. They needed to go out like eight months ago for our A-list guests. Two months ago for everyone else.”

  He could see her scowl in profile, even beneath the fall of silky hair that kept slipping from behind her ear.

  “Should we even bother?”

  “If you’d like guests to attend this function, then it’s probably a good idea.”

  He didn’t get a chance to reply before she turned a page then flipped back again. “Okay, here we go. One of these will do. We have to decide which one.” She straightened and gestured to the book. “Traditional and elegant. Generic, but tasteful.”

  He glanced at a display of cards in a variety of designs. Max’s head spun with choices, the perfect distraction. Vellum, gilt-edged, layered, raised printing or pressed. He narrowed his choices down to two.

  “Either will work,” she said. “This one’s a classic. The other makes more of a statement. Are the bride and groom the statement kind of people?”

  Max considered that. If Raymond wanted to give the incumbent governor a run for his money, he should establish himself as someone willing to take chances. That might as well start with save-the-dates. “Yes.”

  “Okay, that’s a place to start,” Lily Susan said. “Would you like a suggestion?”

  “I would.” Keeping his cool wasn’t so easy when he inhaled her scent with every breath he took, he discovered. Being too close made his thoughts drift into dangerous places.

  Of course, to taunt him, she didn’t go far. She half sat on the edge of the desk, so he was forced to look up to met her gaze, which meant that what should have been an unnoticeable action seemed to move in slow motion as he dragged his gaze along the lean lines of her body.

  “Then why don’t we bring in your mother? That’ll go a long way toward fostering goodwill between the camps.”

  Even distracted by his sharp awareness of her, Max recognized the merit of that idea. “Agreed.”

  Bringing in his mother should act like a nice dose of cooling reality. He hoped.

  She leaned across the desk—another smooth motion he couldn’t help but notice—and depressed the intercom. “My dear Ginger, we’re in the client office and we need your input. Would you mind terribly?”

  His mother would eat this up. Sure enough, her familiar voice trilled over the speaker. “On my way.”

  She appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. “What can I do for you?”

  Lily Susan motioned to the sample book. “These save-the-dates simply must get out tomorrow, which means we’ve got to nail the timing and sequence of wedding events.”

  His mother nodded. “When is the wedding ceremony?”

  Lily Susan shrugged. “Jamilyn and Raymond aren’t set on a particular time of day. It’s Thanksgiving, so they want to spend time with family and friends. You’ve been working on schematics for traffic flow through Overlook, so what do you think?”

  Max supposed he shouldn’t be surprised his mother had already been at work on the wedding—whatever traffic flow was. Were they talking about where the guests would park?

  Ginger sat behind the desk and Lily Susan slid the notepad toward her to review.

  “Max, would you mind letting your mother see that file?”

  He toggled windows and turned the display toward her as his mother slid on a pair of designer bifocals.

  “Brunch or teatime, do you think?” Lily Susan asked.

  “Any idea what you’ll do with them the night before?”

  “None whatsoever. They don’t arrive in the States until two days before Thanksgiving. There will barely be time for fittings and a rehearsal let alone any sort of social gathering.”

  “You’ll come up with something brilliant, dear. You always do.” His mother gave a confident smile. “I believe teatime would work best, then. Schedule it early if you must. Say two in the afternoon. Unconventional, perhaps, but appropriate. The guests won’t complain about enjoying a leisurely morning and you’ll have time to tie up loose ends without stressing the bride, or yourself, with last-minute details.”

  “You’re right. Max says we’re looking for traditional romantic, and I believe I’m seeing afternoon melting into sunset and a very formal affair at night. Can’t you see Overlook all dolled up with candles and silver?”

  “I can. And if we time things properly, we might even take advantage of the long hall. It wouldn’t be practical for a dinner, but it would be perfect for a cocktail party before sunset. Who knows, we might even get lucky with the weather. If the temperature doesn’t drop unseasonably, Raymond and Jamilyn might take photos on the grounds. The guests can watch the photo shoot from the long hall and enjoy the sunset over the river. That might be a nice way to include them.”

  “You go, Ginger.” Lily Susan looked so beautiful with her eyes sparkling with pleasure. “That’s brilliant. Not only will the guests feel included, but it’ll also buy us more time for photos before everyone gets antsy for dinner. We can work with the weather, too. We’ll winterize Jamilyn’s gown.”

  “Oh, I like that. So will the photographer. Jamilyn’s so beautiful. I can’t imagine she won’t enjoy getting more than the usual shots in her finery.”

  Max watched as Lily Susan and his mother touched manicured fingers in the air in sort of a ladylike high five.

 
He sat on the periphery, content to let them conduct business—they were two women clearly on the same page. Watching them together seemed to confirm his observations from the previous day.

  Lily Susan did remind him more of his family than her own, which in no way explained why he was so interested in her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “WILL YOU PLEASE find out how much Denise is willing and able to do?” Lily asked Mara, who stood in the doorway of the greeting office. “I need to know if I have to bring in a temp assistant.”

  Mara nodded. “I’ll give her a call right now. I’m sure she’ll be glad to do as much as possible.”

  How much Denise was willing to do might be different than how much she was capable of doing. Lily didn’t point that out.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I’m heading to Pleasant Valley to work on my sister-in-law’s event. Call my cell when you know something. I probably won’t come back here tonight.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Lily. No problem.”

  “Okay. We’re good to go, then. You’re going to deal with the local vendors and keep in touch with me about who has the date free. You’ll start with the A-list.”

  “And keep my fingers crossed that we luck out since the wedding is on a day most people are home with their families.”

  Lily hoped the vendors wouldn’t feel the same way. “I think we stand a chance, don’t you? I have a good feeling.”

  Mara raised two sets of crossed fingers.

  “And Ginger’s on top of Overlook. She’ll inspect the house and the grounds and make arrangements to have the cleaning and any work that may need to be done. So as soon as you lock down the vendors, I’ll schedule to meet them at Overlook to finalize details.”

  “Don’t forget Ginger has the florist already.”

  “Nope. That’s one thing off your list. Sure you’re not overloaded with the Eversham/Raichle event?”

  Mara grimaced. “Has it been that long since we’ve worked an event together? You pulled me out of Manhattan to deal with this backwater. I can handle Rhinebeck and Overlook. I promise.”

  “I know.” There was no arguing the backwater part. “It’ll be fun working together again. I know I see you every few weeks at the inquiry meetings, but it’s not quite the same.”

  Leaving the office, she hopped in the Cadillac and headed to the Valley. She’d gotten a start on the big wedding, as she’d come to think of it. Hard to personalize an affair for a couple she’d never met. At the moment, Jamilyn and Raymond were still simply two individuals in uniforms.

  But she’d begun the process and felt a little better. She’d sent an email to Publicity to make any style changes before forwarding the press release to the media outlets that had been promised the exclusive. And there were still three hours before the close of the business day. So she was technically ahead of schedule.

  Taking a deep breath, she maneuvered through downtown traffic. Getting organized was critical right now. That was the only way she’d be able to delegate effectively, and since she was off to a decent start, she could switch gears on this drive so she could give her attention to Riley’s event.

  The little wedding.

  The thought made her smile, and it felt good. So good. How long had it been since work had inspired her, hadn’t felt like a burden?

  She waved at the hardware store as she cruised past. “Hi, Daddy.”

  She waved at her old elementary school, which was now educating the next generation of Angelicas. “Hi, twinnies.”

  Then turned onto Traver Road.

  As Lily drove this once-familiar stretch with its twisting curves and forested hills, her pulse ramped up.

  She hadn’t seen the place since Mike…

  “I found it, Lily Susan,” her brother had told her, after showing up unexpectedly at her office one day.

  “Found what?” she asked, unsure whether to usher him in since he was in his uniform and obviously still on duty.

  “Our dream place.” Of course, the dream place was actually more his dream place than that of the girl he’d recently married, but Riley seemed willing to go with it.

  That smile. It stretched across his face as he hugged Lily so hard she puffed out a breath. “I’m going to put in a bid today.”

  “Has Riley even seen it yet?”

  He glanced at her with a disbelieving grimace. “I’ll take her to see it later. It’s exactly what we’ve been looking for. Trust me. Twenty-five acres right in Pleasant Valley. The farmhouse is over a hundred years old. The barn looks like it is, too, so that’ll need to be upgraded. Or leveled. Don’t know which until I get inside. It has a pond and a creek.”

  Lily understood the significance. She would have known what those words meant without the accompanying excitement that had her brother barely able to stand still. Even without the pleased disbelief in his voice.

  Mike’s dream had always been a farm with enough land for horses and some sort of water—a pond, a stream, a creek, a river. Didn’t matter which as long as he could trail ride and water his horses.

  “Okay, so you found it.” She could feel the air around them crackle with possibilities. “Where is it?”

  “You are not going to believe it.”

  She gestured impatiently with her hands.

  “The Cesarini place. You know the one next door to the Haslams on Traver Road?”

  “Oh. My. God.” That was all she could manage.

  They’d driven past that farmhouse every day to and from school as kids. And every day, twice a day, Mike would come up with some upgrade or change he’d make to the house, the garage, the barn, the driveway, the stables. And every one of those improvements would end with, “That’s exactly the kind of place I’m going to own one day.”

  His dream was going to come true.

  “What’s making the Cesarinis sell?”

  Mike shrugged. “He told the real-estate agent that the kids are all grown and have moved away. His wife wants to move back to Herkimer to be close to her family.”

  “Wow. But, Mike, how are you going to swing this? That much land has to cost a fortune.”

  “If this had been a month ago, I wouldn’t be able to. Not on my salary. But now that Riley and I are married, the bank will factor in both our incomes. I’ve already talked with Max’s dad. He didn’t think there’d be any problem.”

  Lily wished Max’s dad had been so accommodating when she’d asked him for a business loan not long ago. But she would have accepted a hundred no’s so that Mike could get the one yes that mattered. Her situation had worked out even without a loan from the bank. And now Mike’s would, too.

  Dreams really did come true.

  And now there it was again. The big farmhouse with its wraparound windows and circle drive. The trim freshly painted and the summer landscaping fading but still peeking through a blanket of autumn leaves. Mike’s dream.

  Maybe dreams had been something genetic they’d shared as twins. Lily only knew that weddings were to her what horses had been to Mike. They’d never outgrown those passions.

  Her chest tightened around a breath as she wheeled into the drive and parked behind Riley’s van.

  Suddenly the porch door swung open and Riley stepped out.

  “Here comes the bride,” Lily said as she got out of the car and headed toward her sister-in-law.

  Riley spread her arms wide and they hugged. “I can’t believe you’re really here. It has been so long.”

  Lily had loved Riley ever since Mike had first brought her home. She was petite and fair, but with an independent, strong spirit. And Riley was a woman who had tackled grief the same way she tackled life—with love and a lot of down-to-earth practicality. She’d adored Mike. His death had been so hard on her, but she’d kept on coping, kept on healing, kept on living. She’d had two very important reasons—Camille and Jake.

  Now she’d found love again.

  Lily admired her strength. Sometimes she felt as if she hadn’t so much dealt with Mike’s d
eath as she had avoided thinking about it.

  “I wish I could have come to the office and saved you some steps. You’re supposed to be on vacation.”

  Lily gave a snort of very unladylike laughter. “I’m in town for a wedding, not a vacation.”

  “As if one wasn’t enough, right?”

  “Pshaw. I’ll just order two of everything.” Lily remembered what Max had said. She gave Riley another hug for good measure. “Don’t you worry about me. Tonight I’m going to curl up in Dad’s chair with a cup of green tea and figure everything out so I can hit the ground running tomorrow. If Dad says one word about bringing home work, I’m going to wrap my hands around his throat. You’ll make sure Scott won’t send me to jail, right?”

  “No problem. You can’t plan the wedding if you’re behind bars.”

  Lily braced herself as Riley ushered her through the porch and into the house, keeping up a steady stream of chatter that made the trip through the familiar surroundings a blur. It wasn’t until they wound up in the kitchen, with Riley pouring coffee and Lily facing the breathtaking vista through the windows, the sweeping terrain of the farm in all its autumn glory from the stables to the forest, that Lily let herself feel.

  A pond and a stream.

  “He’s not here anymore,” Lily whispered.

  Suddenly Riley was beside her, pressing the mug into Lily’s hands and turning to stare out the windows, too. “I was so torn about selling this place after he died. I couldn’t see anything but all the dreams we’d had together. But I made the right choice to keep it. The kids love it here. I love it here. It’s everything Mike wanted for all of us, and it’s all we have of him. All we’ll ever have—except for you.”

  She turned to look at Lily, a soft smile playing around her mouth. “It took time to accept that we could keep those dreams alive, and keep him a part of our lives that way. I think that’s what Mike would want.”

  “And Scott?”

  “And Scott. Took a while. Mike was a brother to him. We talked about a fresh start after the wedding, but, well, Scott’s teaching Jake to take care of the horses. They fish together, and Camille loves to ride. Brian’s still living over the garage. He’s doing really well in college and still helps out around the farm. How could I possibly uproot him after the way he’s helped out? This feels like where we’re supposed to be.”